Critique my site!

FattyMcJ · Feb 17, 2012

ishootmuscles said:
Concerning IE, I wouldn't laugh. It's still the No.1 browser worldwide. According to this article in wikipedia Usage share of web browsers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia IE owns almost 30% of the pie.
Do you want to exclude clients who use IE?

Not at all, that's why there SHOULD be specific coding in the slideshow's HTML5 that fixes things for IE. I say should, because I don't really know if it DOES work on IE the way it's supposed to. I don't have IE

Anyone with IE care to share whether or not the slideshow & portfolio galleries are stretchy as you resize your window?

FattyMcJ · Feb 17, 2012

BTW, I found this amusing. This thread alone is driving my Google Analytics nuts lol

12 seconds with an 83% bounce rate sucks, but the hits are nice! lol

ishootmuscles · Feb 17, 2012

Normally, when I have to start up a business website, and go into coding, the first thing I would consider is the cross-platform compatibility. If it's no good for at least the top 3 browsers, I would drop it and develop my website in an other way.

IE is free to download.

P.S.: I don't use IE for my everyday needs, don't get me wrong here. But, I can't ignore it's position in the market.

Best of luck.

FattyMcJ · Feb 17, 2012

But I run an iMac. I'll see if I can hop on a friends computer and check it out on IE.

Now, I'm finally done updating all the suggestions I've received here! http://www.FMJPhoto.com

-Simplified the pricing page(s)
-Square Thumbnails for uniformity
-Black/White/Gray theme throughout the entire site
-No more cheap/tacky text/fonts
-Easy Navigation
-Clean look

I even tossed in some icons for the bottom nav bar, instead of just saying "Facebook" it has the "F" icon...and so on. The Mail icon brings up a mailto form...some say they don't like that. But my main contact link is to the contact page itself, so I figured if I'm going to have a duplicate with a specific mail icon...might as well send an actual email, right? Thoughts?

Anyway, again, I'd like to thank everyone who put in their $0.02 in this thread.

It's been a HUGE help, and I'm really proud of my website now.

It's always a work in progress, and any MORE comments/ideas/suggestions are ALWAYS welcome, but I think I'm done for the evening lol

Bossy · Feb 18, 2012

Use this instead of downloading browsers

Check Browser Compatibility, Cross Platform Browser Test - Browsershots

Bossy · Feb 18, 2012

Pricing looks much better! A couple things to think about, for weddings particularly, is to look into building in a print or digital package. So instead of 800 for a 4 hour wedding, $1000 for a 4 hour wedding with a $200 print credit. Or for 1500 it comes with an edited disk of approx 200+ images. I'm just pulling numbers out of the air, of course, you'll have to factor in what you've calculated to make from prints, and what the loss would be if you sell a CD. You also might want to remove the individual print prices, or add some more details on them, IE 16x20 mounted with archival paper seems much more worth 135 than a 16x20 print you can get at walmart.

Now to be clear I am NOT knocking on your pricing, I'm just offering some different points of view. From my experience as one fairly recently, Brides are much more internet savvy than they used to be. There are several forums dedicated to them, and so much info is shared, as I'm sure you know. There are several professional labs that print images for non-professionals, and their prices are out there for all to see. I would see your price for the 16x20, go to one of say, 3 fairly known websites and see that not only could I get a print for a tiny fraction of the price, but I could get a gallery wrap for about 50 bucks less. So if I liked your stuff enough to overlook the fact it seems like you're trying to rob me, I'd go for a high res digital cd of the whole event, which it doesn't look like you offer. Just some food for thought!!

FattyMcJ · Feb 18, 2012

Bossy said:
Use this instead of downloading browsers Check Browser Compatibility, Cross Platform Browser Test - Browsershots

That, my friend, is a HUGE help!

Bossy said:
Pricing looks much better! A couple things to think about, for weddings particularly, is to look into building in a print or digital package. So instead of 800 for a 4 hour wedding, $1000 for a 4 hour wedding with a $200 print credit. Or for 1500 it comes with an edited disk of approx 200+ images. I'm just pulling numbers out of the air, of course, you'll have to factor in what you've calculated to make from prints, and what the loss would be if you sell a CD. You also might want to remove the individual print prices, or add some more details on them, IE 16x20 mounted with archival paper seems much more worth 135 than a 16x20 print you can get at walmart.

Now to be clear I am NOT knocking on your pricing, I'm just offering some different points of view. From my experience as one fairly recently, Brides are much more internet savvy than they used to be. There are several forums dedicated to them, and so much info is shared, as I'm sure you know. There are several professional labs that print images for non-professionals, and their prices are out there for all to see. I would see your price for the 16x20, go to one of say, 3 fairly known websites and see that not only could I get a print for a tiny fraction of the price, but I could get a gallery wrap for about 50 bucks less. So if I liked your stuff enough to overlook the fact it seems like you're trying to rob me, I'd go for a high res digital cd of the whole event, which it doesn't look like you offer. Just some food for thought!!

Ahh yes, actual pricing. This is the hard part and always a point of contention. I thank you for your points of view, and I'll reevaluate my pricing yet again. (lol I do it weekly it seems)

Thanks again for all the comments and critique and help folks, it's been a huge asset to me!

Bossy · Feb 18, 2012

Haha thanks for being so open! Pricing is a hard thing to discuss, especially since I don't know your location or anything, but I just thought I'd share some thoughts and leave you to do what you will

There's this "book" called Easy as Pie by Alicia Caine, that really spelled things out and made a ton of sense for pricing etc. It is expensive, though, but if you're serious and are starting to have a clientele its worth every penny.

MLeeK · Feb 18, 2012

Definite improvement!!!

CCericola · Feb 18, 2012

Thanks for letting us critique it and help out. I know how nerve-wracking it can be. When I redesigned my website weeks ago I sent it to to some colleagues and braced for the comments. But it the end, my site is better for it.

jaxx419 · Feb 18, 2012

I understand about no text on the home, but add it wherever you can. 20 isnt terrible but done people stop at 10. You're on your way to a great site but it's no good if people can't find you. That is of search is how you want people to find the site. Good luck!

Also--- icons at the bottom of the homepage look much better.